Good Dog Creative

After reading Aaron I’s recent article “Design is for Grown Ups… Right?” I felt compelled to relate my own experiences as a fairly new and “wet behind the ears” dad of a 6 month old.

Do you remember what you thought or what you felt the very fist time you ever tasted applesauce? I’m not asking about the first time you tried some new food and inevitably proclaimed the time tested standard of “Tastes like chicken!”. I’m talking about your very first taste of food, your very first experience of tasting something that you didn’t even know existed. What would it be like if we, as creatives, could remember our very first experiences in life and how could those experiences influence our ability to open our imaginations past our adult boundaries?

Over the last 6 months, and more frequently over the last 3, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of watching my son as he has his first experiences. As I watch those faces he makes as he tastes pineapple, studies the cracking paint on our front porch or runs his hand the wrong way though our very gentle and understanding German Shepherd’s fur I find myself wondering where did my amazement, wonder and imagination go?

As I grow older, my creativity has been and can sometimes still be squashed. I think it applies to most adults that we lose our wonder as we grow up and are told what things are and the way things should be. We lose our amazement to our own self-inflicted boundaries and expectations. Instead of seeing new projects as experiences and possibilities we view them as just the next work load.

I often tend to fall into ruts where I design only to the expected results and I create my personal work to the standards that I believe others want to see. Now, having my son and watching the gears turn as he discovers the world around him I find myself wanting to look at the world through his eyes. I want to see everything new and work from that kind of inspiration. I think all creatives everywhere could benefit from inspiration, baby style.